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Earning a CFA Charter Can Help Business Students Stand Out in the Job Market
By Catherine Groux
Posted June 28, 2012 10:12 AM
More business students are earning CFA charters.Today, as many undergraduates and graduate students try to stand out from their peers in a competitive job market, many are searching for new lines they can add to their resumes. For example, more undergraduate finance majors and Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree seekers are opting to take the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports. In only two years, the percentage of finance students taking the test rose from 25 to 32 percent, the CFA Institute states.
"We are seeing a lot more demand from schools, which means presumably it is coming from students," Stephen Horan, the CFA Institute’s head of university relations and private wealth, told BusinessWeek. "More and more undergraduates are thinking about this early in their careers."
What is the CFA Exam?
The CFA Program consists of three rigorous exams - Level I, Level II and Level III - which must be passed sequentially, according to the CFA Institute. Students can take the Level I exam, which features multiple choice questions, between June and December. The Level II exam, which is composed of item set questions, is offered in June only, along with the Level III exam, consisting of item set and essay questions.
How Can the CFA Exam Help Students Find Jobs?
While there are no foolproof methods to landing a job after earning a bachelor's or master's degree, BusinessWeek reports that passing the CFA exam could help individuals earn higher salaries and find more job opportunities. With the CFA credential, students could be qualified to become security analysts, portfolio managers and investment consultants. As the CFA Program focuses on the fundamental and practical knowledge students need for these types of jobs, officials from the program say there are few better ways to enter the finance and investment fields.
Pamela Peterson Drake, a professor of finance and department head at the James Madison University College of Business, said she also believes a CFA charter can help business degree holders find more jobs.
"The employers consider it valuable, and if a student says I’m a candidate for Level I of the CFA exam, it sends a signal," Drake told BusinessWeek. "In this job market, you need to stand out."
